For the next week I only fraternized with Ema during my off hours and even then we mainly talked. Okay, there was an occasional kiss, but not much more than that. We were taking our time and getting to know each other.

I discovered that our age difference didn’t matter that much. We had the same tastes in music and holoshows. We both like watching situational comedies and political thrillers on the holonet. And, last night, to my great surprise I discovered she likes to watch shockball.

We were sitting in my room while off duty and flipping through channels looking for something good to watch when a commercial for a shockball tournament came on. “I really want to see that game,” I said offhand not expecting a positive response. Most women I know see the sport as barbaric.

“So do I.”

I looked at her in disbelief. “Do you really like the sport or are you just saying that to impress me?”

“Why would I want to impress you?”

I cocked an eyebrow as I continued to flip through the channels . “You know, to sweep me off my feet so you can seduce me.”

She just laughed. “Dream on Jedi-boy. But to answer your question I am an avid Shock-ball fan. I mean, what’s there not to like? You have very tall, muscular, athletic men wearing very tight pants tossing an electrically charged shockball at each other using either insulating mitts or ball scoops while at the same time trying to prevent being hit and knocked unconscious. I love seeing them get hit, dropping to the ground with muscles twitching before blacking out.” She shook her arms and hands for emphasis and then laughed.

A broad smile crossed my face. “Did you see the Kuat Pirates vs the Shad Furies in the finals? It was awesome.”

“I bet you liked what happened to Chad Miezer in the second quarter?” She said with mischief in her eyes.

“You mean when he got hit in the groin with the shockball, then fell face first on the ground trapping the ball between his groin and the playing field?”

She was laughing so hard now with tears running down her cheeks. “He was such a jerk to his teammates and the other team players all year long that nobody went to help him. So he just twitched on the field until the referee pulled him off the shockball.”

“That’s it!” I couldn’t believe I found a woman who saw the humor in that as much as I did. “My brother Jaden recorded the game and then made a holo-short with the video of Miezer twitching and then set it to music.”

“That was your brother?” She said all excited. “I saw that holo! You have over a trillion hits galactic wide. That’s hilarious.”

I was still flipping through the channels when she called out. “Stop.” I moved back a channel to see a holodrama starting. “This is a fantastic movie about the Jedi. Will you watch it with me and tell me how accurate it is?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

So we started watching a film called Elusive Bliss. When she said it was about Jedi I thought we were going to watch an action film, but it was a love story. I guess the title should have clued me in…it’s not really an action, blood and guts type of title.

Anyway, although love stories are not exactly my type of film, Ema loved it. It was about a male Jedi in the Old Republic who was in love with a female Jedi in the order. Their love for each other was intense, but they both knew it was also doomed. The Jedi Order in the old days didn’t allow marriage. As the movie went on the two love-struck Jedi were faced with the option of running away and marrying or staying with the Jedi and either breaking up or cooling down their relationship back to friends. They decided to run away, but before they could do so, the male Jedi went on a mission and didn’t survive.

Ema was all teary eyed at the sad ending. “I’m glad that’s not the rules for your order.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think I would be a Jedi otherwise.”

She gazed at me thoughtfully. “You would give up being a Jedi for love?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, also the idea of being a sexless Jedi monk isn’t very appealing to me, besides I probably would have never been associated with the Jedi if that was the rule. There is no way in the galaxy that my father would have left my mother to become a Jedi. According to him he had turned down Master Skywalker the first time asked and the second time he said he would only do it if he could remain on Coruscant with my mother. That is one of the reasons the Temple was reestablished here. My father would have given up everything to be with my mom.”

“That is so romantic,” she practically gushed. “You’re mother is a very lucky woman.”

I smiled. “I think it goes both ways. My dad is equally lucky to find her. They love each other very much and to my great dismay and disgust they are very, and I mean very, openly affectionate.” I had to laugh. “I guess that isn’t a bad thing, but it’s still unsettling to walk in on your parent necking on the couch.”

“They are very lucky to have each other,” Ema said.

I looked down at the ground and gave a sappy smile. “I hope one day to be as lucky.”

She shifted closer to me. “I’m sure you will be,” she said softly, intimately. She then leaned in and kissed me.

I reached up as my thumb gently stroked her cheekbones while drawing her closer. We have kissed before, but this was different. I could feel in the Force that she wanted more and that panicked me. She was an older woman and I felt so ill prepared for this encounter. It’s different when you are a hormonally addled teenager fumbling through the sexual act with an equally inexperienced teenage girl…usually in the cramped backseat of her parent’s airspeeder. It’s an entirely different thing to expect to perform to standard with a gorgeous older woman who could have any man she wanted.

I was hesitant to take the next step, but when she nibbled on my earlobe my desire for her went into overdrive. My brain might not know what to do, but my body obviously did.

I am too much of a gentleman to discuss what happened next…but it was FANTASTIC!

The most incredible night in my life was followed by the most embarrassing morning in my memory…and that’s saying a lot. First off, in the heat of the moment, my passion-muddled brain forgot to set my alarm clock. I was supposed to meet Ben at 0500 hours and at 0510 Ben walked into my bedroom to wake me up.

“Fierfek!” I heard Ben curse in shocked surprise. I opened my eyes still groggy from lack of sleep. I hastily sat up and saw Ben standing at my door with his hand covering his eyes. “For Force-sake Talon, get up and cover up!”

I looked down and realize I was completely nude with parts of me partially awake. I looked over to my sleeping companion and sighed with relief when I realize she was still sleeping under the sheets.

“Kriff!” I swore as I jumped out of bed and quickly pulled on my boxer-briefs and then desperately started looking for my discarded clothing on the floor. In my hurry to dress, I was pulling on my trousers, lost balance and tumbled to the floor with a loud thud, waking Ema.

“Talon?” she mumbled. She started to rise, but upon seeing a Ben at the doorway—his eyes glued to the ground and blushing until he was as red as his Twil’ek girlfriend—Ema pulled the sheets up under her chin protectively. “Hello Ben,” she said in a way that it sounded almost like a question. Ema looked over to me and I knew I looked like an idiot as I laid on my back and struggled to pull my trousers over my thighs. She turned back to Ben, gazing at him sheepishly. “This isn’t what…”

I don’t know what she was going to say, because apparently she realized there was no way to make this seem like it was anything but what it really was. I mean what was she going to say? ‘The broken thermostat controls made the room too cold and we had to use our body heat to keep warm’? I probably would have chuckled at the thought if I weren’t too busy looking for my socks and tunic.

“I’m just going to stay here under the sheets until you two leave,” Ema finally said sounding deeply embarrassed.

“Stang!” Ben continued heatedly, “I was sitting in the main sitting room having a nice conversation with the Queen when I was hit by emotions so intense it actually startled me. Then I found myself tormented with what looked like skinholo images floating in my head, starring the Queen’s very hot and sexy identical twin sister. Blast! I had to find a way to excuse myself from the room. The Queen almost called in the emergency medical team because I suddenly stood, turned bright red, began sweating and then had difficulty walking!” Ben ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Damn I hope she thought that was a lightsaber in my pocket.”

I tried to choke down a laugh by biting my lower lip! The thought of Ben getting all hot and bothered in front of the Queen was somewhat comical.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” he said while trying to suppress his own laughter. “I’m just glad the visions were through your eyes and your eyes never left her. Otherwise that would be…” Ben shuddered while giving a look of disgust.

“I guess it was good we didn’t have mirrors on the ceiling,” I joked and was immediately rewarded with a punch to my shoulder.

“Knock it off. This is a big mission for me. I don’t want to look like a fool in front of the Queen!” Ben took a couple deep breaths to calm down and then he chuckled. “Talon why does trouble follow you?”

I gave him my best apologetic look. “I don’t know…Skywalker genes maybe?”

“Probably.” He sighed and then gave me a determined look. “This is not going to happen again. You are going to relearn how to shield if it takes me all day to teach you. You’ve grown lax because you lived so long in your parent’s ysalamiri infested apartment.”

I smiled slightly knowing I was forgiven…otherwise he would have sent me home or forbad me from seeing Ema romantically during the mission. “Thanks, Ben.”

So, that’s what we trained on until Ben was too tired to stay up any longer. Gods I hope I learned that lesson.

Ema was so embarrassed she stayed in her room most of the day and avoided Ben. I can’t say that I blame her. It’s not fun being caught with your pants down, literally…not fun at all.

EJF for the baseball metaphor and Hazel is right. Ben should be used to it, or would be, if L/M weren't great masters at shielding perfectly and often Wonderful post and reactions. Now comes the ouchy part: what's next for Ema and Talon.

Ben should be used to this kind of thing, what with his parents and all.

I think Ben was mostly embarrassed because he is sitting down with Ema's identical twin and then suddenly he knows exactly what the beautiful woman he is talking to looks like naked. And then the next morning he walks in on a naked Talon sporting morning wood. I would think one would never get used to that.

After I finished my security shift I knocked on Ema’s door. She had been hiding away most of the day. In the morning, her sister had gone into her room to talk to her, but I decided to give her some space. I could still feel the embarrassment flowing from her through the Force.

Finally, at the end of the day, I gathered up my courage to talk to my mortified lover. I rapped my knuckles on the door and waited for a response. Ema eventually opened up and ushered me in. She was wearing what looked like a sleeping outfit under a bathrobe and I had the impression that she might have spent the entire day lying around embarrassed in bed.

She turned to me and I could see the tension etched on her face. “Did you get in trouble with Ben? Or with the Jedi?”

I smiled lovingly. I expected her to be angry at the embarrassing predicament I put her in, but instead she was worried about me and my standing with the Jedi. I shook my head. “Not really. Did your sister say anything to you this morning about it?”

She shrugged. “Not about us. She said Ben looked ill last night. He had turned all red faced and looked flustered.” She sat down on the corner of her bed and looked up at me. “Is he alright?”

I avert my eyes as I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “Yeah, he’s fine.”

When I looked back, I noticed a narrowing of her eyes as she scrutinized me. I swear it is the same look my mother gives me when she knows I am lying about something. “What are you hiding?”

I groan in frustration as I walked over and sat next to her. “Ema, you really don’t want to know,” I warned her.

“Yes, I do want to know.” She glared at me. “Tell me.”

I gave a defeated sigh. “Force users can sometimes pick up each other’s thoughts and images…and…well, when Ben was talking to your sister... when we started our nocturnal activities…and well, he suddenly picked up my thoughts, what I was seeing and my emotions.”

“What!” Her eyes went wide and her voice cracked with emotion. “Ben could see what we are doing?” She brought her hands over her face and fell back onto the bed. “Talon, just kill me. I will never be able to look Ben in the eye again.”

I gave a soft chuckle. “I don’t think Ben will be looking you in the eye for some time either. He is just as embarrassed.”

I lay down next to her. “Don’t worry, Ben taught me to shield my thoughts. We shouldn’t have a problem anymore.”

“Oh great. That’s comforting. It’s too bad he didn’t pass on that skill before I gave him the peepshow of a lifetime.” Her brow furrowed in thought before she chuckled sarcastically. “I guess that explains Ben’s discomfort last night.”

I laughed with her. “He told me that he was talking to your sister and suddenly he could picture her naked.”

Ema blushed and closed her eyes. “Oh no. The poor man.” She turned in the bed to face me. “What do we do now?”

I grinned as I reached out and brushed her silky blond hair away from her face. “I’m off duty until tomorrow morning. Do you want to test my new and improved shielding abilities?”

Her blue eyes glided down my body and gave me a smirk. “You want me to help you in practicing your Jedi skills?”

“You can call it that.” I drew her into my arms and kissed her gently. She giggled under my lips and I pulled away and gazed at her confused. “What?”

“You better have perfected this skill; I don’t want to torment poor Ben anymore than he was last night.”

I gave her a crooked grin. “There is only one way to find out.” I then drew her close and kissed her....Entry 56

I guess I perfected the shielding technique, because Ben didn’t give me any more grief…although I am fairly certain that when all said and done he is going to tell all our friends at the temple what happened. After all, we’re guys and it’s too funny not to tell…even if it’s at my expense. I know I couldn’t keep it a secret if the situation was reversed.

The next few weeks were the best in my life. Ema and I got along so well. I have never felt so close to anybody before. Unfortunately, one day my Talon Tantiss stupidity flared up again. I guess it was just my immaturity shining through.

Ema and I were sitting on the couch in the sitting area when she had asked me if Talon was a family name.

“No,” I said. “I’m named after my father’s friend Talon Karrde. He is a smuggler turned trader. My father and Talon fought together against the Emperor Reborn on Byss. But, my middle name is Marcus, which is a variation of my father’s name. Why do you ask?”

She shook her head. “No reason. Usually when you hear atypical names they are family names passed down from father to son. I was just curious.”

I gave her a bright grin as my hand slipped around her waist. “You’re thinking about baby names? Do you want to make a little Talon Junior?”

Now, in my defense I was just joking, but I could feel shock radiate off of Ema through the Force. I tensed. “Ema, I was just teasing. I didn’t mean it. I mean, I would like kids one day…in the future…in the far future…not now. I wasn’t hinting about anything like that…I know we've just started dating.”

Stang I was babbling.

She appeared to recover and smiled at me. “Don’t worry Talon. The comment simply caught me off guard.” She chuckled. “I think I panicked because I thought you were about to propose.” She looked at me embarrassed. “I’m not saying that would be an awful thing…I just mean…not now.”

I laughed because she was babbling just like I was. “Hey,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her. “I know what you mean.”

Things went back to normal by the next day, our comments forgotten. I have to learn not to rush things. I guess because the situation was moving along so quickly I thought I could joke about things like that, but looking back I realized it was stupid. I probably gave her the impression that I am some clingy, love-starved teen.

I love this update. #55 was sos sweet and #56 so real to life, and yet you can tell Talon is trying and really sincerely cares for Ema. I like how open they can be with each other in sharing feelings and accommodating the other's pacing for the relationship. Any lessons Talon learns here will be priceless now and in the future.